1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of landscaping and particularly to edging devices used to divide the landscape and provide border lines. More particularly the present invention relates to molded plastic landscape edging and ornamentation which simulate concrete or clay structures in texture, appearance, and function, but are more economical to manufacture and distribute to the end user.
2. Description of the Related Technology
In the field of landscaping, division of the terrain is customarily accomplished by utilizing logs of wood, bricks, or concrete devices designed as landscape borders and edgings. Brick and concrete devices last longer than logs of wood against the weather and moisture, however other alternatives have been sought to devices made out of clay or concrete.
Molding landscaping devices out of plastics has advantages over conventional material. Plastics enable the designer to apply fine detail in his work which are not practical with other material. Plastics also provide more uniform products, thus enhancing the ornamental effects of such devices. The use of almost infinite selection of colorants in plastics has given plastic landscaping devices another advantage over the conventional material.
Concrete and clay have a generally higher specific density than that of most plastics used for such devices, and plastic devices are often molded as hollow boxes; for these reasons, plastic devices weigh less than those of conventional material and similar dimensions. The weight difference enables one to save on shipping costs.
Plastic landscaping devices that are specifically designed as garden edging and border products typically depend on the extrusion method of manufacturing, this means that bending the device to an angle or forming it to an arc is not possible and a second device has to be injection molded to function as an angle or an arc.
Plastic edging devices that are molded individually such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,113 typically require stakes for anchoring the units to the soil, and brackets and pins for interlocking of two units together. Furthermore additional parts requirement means a larger and more diversified inventory, which in turn may increase the cost of such product.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,479 depends on trapezoidal sections. To preserve such shape, thin flanges and clips were devised, complicating the usage and inventory of the parts. The aforementioned invention is designed to be buried in the soil with only its top wall exposed.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,119,587, 5,134,817, and 4,986,042 also depend on pins for interlocking and use non-plastic material for their construction. Furthermore none is designed to save shipping volume when units are stacked on the top of each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,076 also utilizes pins for anchoring but does not address the problem of interconntivity of two adjacent units.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,241 does not require the use of anchoring stakes, yet it calls for use of metal and does not provide means of interconnectivity of two units or formation of arcs.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,157,867 and 4,969,289 depend on specialty devices to connect two adjacent units together or for anchoring purposes.
There still is opportunity to improve upon the prior art and invention of a garden edging device that is made of plastics, does not require specialty devices for interlocking of two units, or anchoring to the ground, stacks efficiently, and can be used to construct different geometrical shapes including those which use circular arcs.